Cleaning question

This is a discussion on Cleaning question within the Firearm Cleaning & Maintenance forums, part of the General Firearm Discussion category; Hello all from the new guy (notice this is my third post). I am new to the world of guns (except the ones that shoot ...

3. Field strip, using metal brushes and a pad with hoppes 9 clean barrel. Use toothbrush with some hoppes 9 to clean springs. Use q-tips with hoppes 9 to clean slide track. Rinse with water, use air compressor to dry. Dip Q-tip in oil, lightly oil springs, outside of barrel, and slide track. Reassemble. Disassemble firing pin and clean channel every 100-150 rounds.

I think the last one sounds best, but I don't have a clue. What do you guys do, and what would you reccomend? I would like to keep and use this firearm a long time.

There are endless ways to clean a gun, and endless opinions on how it should be done. Bear in mind that guns don't need to be "hospital sterile."

1. An ultra sonic is nice but overkill and expensive for the most part for a good one. Good for a gun that's been packed away full of gunk for years, but not needed for the cleaning after a day of shooting. Plus, I'm not using water on my firearms.

2. Simple Green can be corrosive to some aluminum. Again, no water.

3. depending on the make, cleaning the firing pin channel every 100-150 rounds is excessive (and not recommended on some makes). Forget the water--who's saying this?

The list of cleaning/lubing supplies is even longer than the list of ways to use them. I've used auto products, marine products, low- and high-priced gun products and all have worked well with slight advantages/disadvantages over the others. My prefered lube is 3-in-1 oil. The one product that failed me and I never recommend is WD-40.

Guns are simple(?) mechanics, and as such, they only need to be relatively clean and lubed to operate. Some prefer to be "wetter' than others, but that doesn't mean dripping wet.

I run a solvent-soaked brush thru the bore, run a few patches thru it to clean out the gunk, then run a lightly oiled patch thru it and wipe down the outer surfaces. I use old rags, Q-tips, and pipe cleaners to clean out the hard to reach spots of the action. I've never had a maintenance-related malfunction on any of my firearms.

It's not rocket science. Doesn't have to be clean enough to eat off. Clean and lube and fire away!

I use Brake Free CLP for everything. I field strip gun, spray all the pieces with Brake free CLP, let sit for bout and hour or two, then clean barrel and other parts give another short bust of CLP as this is also a lubricant wipe off excess oil and there you have it. This stuff works great and comes in liquid or spray.

Generally speaking water is your worst enemy. Its OK (necessary even) for certain types of cleaning when mandated but I would avoid it as a general purpose elixir, especially while new to your weapons. Compressed air is messy and often very wet. Drying with a hair-dryer would be more effective.

Hoppes No. 9 is fine, and so are several other solvents. No. 9 is practically synonymous with "gun-cleaner"; never a bad choice.

The extent of cleaning is personal preference but field strip and wipe down of all surfaces is good practice.
Thorough cleaning of the barrel is mandatory if you want your weapon to have any resale value.
Don't use brushes unless you have to, then only copper (or something else soft) and only pull it one way; never reverse directions in the bore. I only pull from breech to muzzle. ymmv.

Lubrication is dependent on weapon and duty cycle. "If it's shiny, lube it". My M&P Shield owners manual is very explicit about what needs lubication; your weapons owners manual should be too. A drop, wiped to the residue left by your finger is sufficient in most cases. Too much lube or wrong kind gets sticky and collects lint and dirt.

If I was storing my weapon away I would lubricate differently that I do for EDC

My new baby (lol) is a Ruger lc9, it should be in Tuesday. It will be my EDC. I realize those methods previously listed are very excessive, and although my air compressor has a dryer on it, I didn't really think you should get a gun wet with water unless nessecary.

So far I have purchased hoppes 9 solvent, hoppes gun oil, and a towel to wipe down. I have not picked up a pistol cleaning kit until I know more. Walmart sells a $8 set, a $12 set, a $20, $40, and $60 sets. When I get home ill post a link to get your opinions.

I would stay away from gun cleaning kits as you can get much better quality buying individual pieces for just a few dollars more. Even the main pieces in the vast majority of kits are most always cheap and most of the kit is made up of cheap consumable items that you'll have to replace anyway and you won't be able to purchase exact replacements for the kit - you'll wind up with a separate box of stuff anyway. One exception is the handgun kit from Walmart that comes packed in it's own handle. It's small and the use of the small sectional rod isn't a big deal in a short handgun barrel. It's $6 and comes with 3 different sized bore brushes, rod, handle, and patch holder.

I would get a set of brass jags and skip the slotted patch holders all together - the slotted holders are the equivalent of dragging a rag over something while holding it 3" above the surface and expecting it to get clean. Even if you never use some of the jags, the set is a better value over buying 3 or 4 individually. Tipton has a good, compact set.
Cotton patches work much better than synthetic.
Try a can of G96 instead of Hoppe's - it works and smells much better. (I'm gonna get flamed for the smell thing).
Get a military nylon cleaning brush with the small single row of bristles at one end and large row at the other. The monstrosities they sell at most places won't allow you to get into many nooks and crannies.
When you get a rifle, get a good one piece cleaning rod - I really like the Tipton carbon fiber rod as it won't wear either end of the barrel and won't allow hardened particles to become embedded in the rod.

I recommend Ballistol for cleaning and lubrication. It's pretty simple, really. Field strip, spray barrel and internals with Ballistol. Let sit for 5 minutes. Clean with with soft rag. Q-tips are good for getting in tight areas. I use the plastic rod and brush that came with my Glock to run through the barrel once or twice. Finally, reassemble and wipe down with a silicone cloth.

Big fan of Gunzilla for my cleaning. I have a small table I set up and use an industrial fluid absorbent mat I picked up from work a couple of years ago. Sit down, turn on the radio and field strip everything. I use an old white (was white) undershirt and do an initial wipe down of all of the pieces. Then, I spray some Gunzilla into the bbl and set it aside. I spray a small amount of Gunzilla into the bristles of a nylon 'toothbrush' that you can pick up at any sporting goods store for a couple of bucks, and run it over all the parts. I'll use a Q-Tip or pipecleaner to get into any hard-to-reach areas. Each time I finish with a part, I wipe it down with a paper towel to make sure it's dry.
Finally, I go after the barrel. Run a couple patches through it, then use the brass brush a couple of times. When I use the brass brush, I don't screw it into the handle, I only push it through. I'm a stickler about following the path of rifling, and I won't pull the brush back through the bbl. I push it out, then re-insert it. I'll re-Gunzilla it, run a few more patches through and then I'm done cleaning.
After that I lightly lube any parts that are moving metal-on-metal and the spring and a few other choice areas. And by lightly I mean I put a drop or two of lube on a Q-Tip and run it across those parts.
Many might tell you this is excessive, and they might be right. I've always enjoyed cleaning my firearms (except my S&W 22LR auto which is notoriously difficult to clean as is the MarkII and III). And, truth be known, I took two large a$$ chewing in my life that keeps me doing this: 1. My mother after I put away my .410 after plinking some cans in our backyard and didn't clean it at all; and 2. My drill sergeant when I turned in my M16 with some fouling still on the bolt carrier group. To this day I think he used a patch that was already dirty. But, after he told me to do pushups until HE got tired (which apparently when you're not the one doing pushups is quite a while), I now clean thoroughly after every shoot.

I am not going to lie, I do like that Otis kit a lot, bullshark. How cheaply made is it? Can you buy replacements seperately

It's not cheaply made at all. I have all kinds of kits and pieces collected since 1968 or thereabouts...I got this kit a about a year ago and haven't used anything else since for my pistols. I keep it in my gun bag, and in like 2 minutes my bore is cleaned while its still hot at the range. Had I not bought the kit, I wouldn't have the brush or the pin-punch or the crevice picks. There is a place for each piece so at a glance, you know when its put away and you know where to find it. Yes you can buy individual replacements, but I think sets are cheaper. I'm not sure, I've never had to buy any.

Everything in the kit except the brush and patches is precision machine brass. Nothing to wear out. Amazon: if you don't like it, ship it back.

Seems like a good regiment, and I can't add much to the cleaning, since everyone has their own tried and true methods. My only questions/concern was the rinsing with water. I never clean or rinse any of my guns with water. I live in Houston and there is enough water in the air. I am always trying to keep my firearms away from humidity and water as musch as possible.